The Real Housewives of Vancouver are back, and so too are our weekly cast blogs. For episode one, titled “New Faces & Old Wounds,” returning wife Ronnie Negus opens up about her struggle after the first season, why she chose to come back and how she really feels about her former best friend, Mary Zilba.

What didn’t we see between the end of Season 1 and the start of Season 2?

Tragically, my daughter nearly lost her life. It’s a miracle she’s here. She was 22 minutes without oxygen. It’s those moments in life when you put everything else behind you and you move forward and you start fresh. Jody came to the hospital and she prayed. When somebody’s praying over your child who may not come off life support, it changes things. So Jody and I, I don’t know if we were ever great friends on the show, but I thought life’s too short. Since then I think our relationship has developed and I think that she’s a lovely person. I don’t think the first season did her any justice; not really myself that much, either.

After we stopped filming — I don’t know how much I can get into it – my friendship with Mary, I love her and I wish her all the best but unfortunately things continued to go sideways. My daughter, when came home from the hospital, had a birthday and I invited Mary to that birthday and she didn’t come. She “ didn’t want to be seen in public with me,” she wrote in an e-mail. I will never forget that. My daughter who nearly died is having a birthday and yet [she doesn’t come because] she doesn’t want to be seen in public with me? I was flabbergasted.

I felt like there were a lot of underhanded things that I saw last year which I didn’t notice before. It was as if she had it out for me. I don’t like insidious people and I feel this year is going to show a whole different side of the returning wives.

Obviously not all the ladies of Season 1 returned. What made you decide to come back?

I came back to settle the score. I wasn’t going down like that. I had to show the world the real Ronnie.

Did I drink too much at times? Sure I did, who hasn’t ! 3000 hours are filmed, 11 are shown. It’s like, ‘The girl that’s been to rehab, making rehab wine is an alcoholic!’ Thank you very much; glad I could help you with the ratings.

I did the show for a life experience. Mary Zilba begged me; said she wouldn’t do the show without me. I did it because she needed the show. So I went and did it, gave my whole paycheque to charity and I’m watching the show going, ‘What the hell is going on?’ because there are other cast members that drank as much as I did but that didn’t air.

In the episode you mentioned you stopped drinking.

I stopped drinking for five months. I can’t tell you what happens but sometimes filming a show can be extremely stressful.

The funny thing is, when I said I was taking a break – and I actually didn’t drink for five months and it was great – it was like a double-edged sword. Suddenly I started thinking that people will think I really am an alcoholic. By stopping to drink you’re almost confirming that it’s true. But it’s not true.

That’s kind of the devil’s bargain with these shows.

Yeah, but I had never done anything like it and I had no idea what I was getting into.

Do you feel you understand how to play the game better now?

Oh yes. I saw a lot of lies last season and I swallowed a lot of crap. This year, I’m not lying to anybody. I’m not playing that game. I think this year a lot of true colours will be shown.

When they introduced the new housewives, was there an unspoken race to try to sway them to certain sides of old arguments?

I’m glad you brought that up. I run my own race. I don’t need to make people love me or root for me or join my camp because I need protection. Having said that, all sh-t erupted and someone went temporarily insane. The bottom line is, did I see some of the old Housewives race to grab somebody to get them into her camp? Absolutely.

Not me, I run my own race.

Do you feel like you’re stuck between Jody and Mary?

Oh my god, I got the worst seat on the bus. I could never do the show again if those two are on it. I can’t stand it!

This season opens with a very emotional barbecue, can you explain why chose to let the world into this moment?

I’m going to be straight up. I was going to have that party for the doctors and nurses who saved my daughter. So my niece and I were planning this BBQ and production said that would be a really fabulous opportunity to introduce the new wives. And because I’m the one that’s friends with Jody and Mary, and it was absolutely true that Jody and I put our differences aside because of Remington. I had to go to all the doctors and nurses and paramedics and ask if it was OK and they all said absolutely.

So because they were OK with it, I was OK with it.

Considering Mary refused to come to your daughter’s birthday, what was going through your mind when she sang to Remington?

In the episode Mary says she hadn’t been to my house in three or four months. I can tell you, I’ve lived in this house for fourteen years and Mary hasn’t been to my home more than – and this is a big maybe – ten times. Last time she was at my house it was over a year and a half ago.

I can’t take it. Listen, I’m not going to do a show – and I’m never ever going to do it again – if someone who’s supposed to be my best friend lies about every single little thing. It’s like, no, you weren’t at my house three months ago, you didn’t come to my daughter’s birthday and you actually had the audacity to tell me you didn’t want to be seen in public with me.

You know why that was? Because I was going down the sh-tter. You know, where I come from you put your hand out and you pull your friend out of the water you don’t put their foot on their head and I told her that. I told her, you’re on top of the world right now because you’re doing well and you begged me to do the show. There are some hard feelings there.

In the episode she says I was trying to maliciously hurt her kids when I said she was married and it was annulled. I’ve got news for you, and it’s going to come out, she was married to the guy for four years! Honey, if you were married to him for four years and it didn’t happen then my first two marriages never existed. Lie after lie after lie.

I’m passionate about it and I’m upset. She begged me to be on the show. She said to me many times that if I didn’t do the show she wasn’t going to do the show. And for three months I held out until finally I said that if I give all the money to charity I’ll feel good about it and agreed and this is how she repaid me?